1. Field of the Described Implementations
The present disclosure relates generally to gaming machines, and more particularly to input devices of gaming machines configured to impede the entrance of foreign contaminates into the housing of the input device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many of today's gaming casinos and other entertainment locations feature different single and multi-player gaming systems such as slot machines and video poker machines. The gaming machines may include a number of hardware and software components to provide a wide variety of game types and game playing capabilities. Exemplary hardware components may include bill validators, coin acceptors, card readers, keypads, buttons, levers, touch screens, coin hoppers, ticket printers, player tracking units and the like. Software components may include, for example, boot and initialization routines, various game play programs and subroutines, credit and payout routines, image and audio generation programs, various component modules and a random or pseudo-random number generator, among others.
Gaming machines are highly regulated to ensure fairness. In many cases, gaming machines may be operable to dispense monetary awards of a large amount of money. Accordingly, access to gaming machines is often carefully controlled. For example, in some jurisdictions, routine maintenance requires that extra personnel (e.g., gaming control personnel) be notified in advance and be in attendance during such maintenance. Additionally, gaming machines may have hardware and software architectures that differ significantly from those of general-purpose computers (PCs), even though both gaming machines and PCs employ microprocessors to control a variety of devices. For example, gaming machines may have more stringent security requirements and fault tolerance requirements. Additionally, gaming machines generally operate in harsher environments as compared with PCs.
Gaming machines typically have input devices, such as push-buttons, to receive player inputs, e.g., to place a wager. A gaming machine with such devices may be susceptible to foreign contaminates getting into the machine and interfering with the proper operation of the gaming machine. For example, a player may spill liquids containing alcohol, sugar, etc. on the panel of the gaming machine, which may then enter the input device and cause the input device to stop working. An input device on an angled panel may be more susceptible to contamination due to its relative location and/or the accessibility of drinking containers to the player and the input device(s).
The input device of the gaming machine may have a reduced tactile function and/or function. For example, the input device may become inoperable when the foreign contaminate enters the housing or other components of the input device. The inoperability may be caused by the foreign contaminate entering the area between a lens and a bezel of the input device. In such situations, the faulty input device is typically replaced by the casino operator. Modern input devices which include LCD or similar displays can be relatively expensive to replace. Besides the costs incurred by replacing a faulty input device, the casino operator also suffers a decline in income while the gaming machine is inoperable. These and other considerations have led to the evolution of the present invention.